Daphne Bramham: Protests in Hong Kong bring a war of words in the Canadian diaspora
Credit to Author: Daphne Bramham| Date: Tue, 27 Aug 2019 21:16:55 +0000
A section of the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council’s website was shut down late last week, swamped by complaints that well-known Fairchild Radio personality Thomas In-sing Leung was spreading false news about the Hong Kong protests.
On Friday, Fairchild Radio announced on its Facebook page that the host of its News Talk program had resigned “due to personal reasons”.
It’s just another example of the proxy war raging among the Chinese diaspora in Canada and elsewhere that is dividing communities and even families into pro- and anti-Beijing factions over the meaning of “One country, two systems” and the long-term future of Hong Kong.
What sparked the flood of complaints were Leung’s comments about a July incident in Hong Kong when white-shirted men with metal rods and wooden poles attacked people in a subway station as they dispersed following one of the many protests that have disrupted and destabilized the city-state this summer.
The attackers injured 45 people, including one man critically, and, during the melee, several young protesters grabbed a fire hose and turned it on them.
The following day, six of the attackers — including several with triad or gang connections — were arrested and charged by Hong Kong police.
But Leung told listeners that having reviewed all of the video of the event, he had concluded that it was the protesters’ fault since they had attacked the white-shirted men, who then retaliated.
Leung is a pastor and founder of the Culture Regeneration Research Society, a registered non-profit society, which has received money from the Canadian International Development Agency.
Its vision is to “influence the emergence of a new Chinese consciousness — firmly rooted in China’s proud heritage and open to limitless possibilities offered by a world rich in diversity of culture, knowledge, thought and creativity.”
Leung had a wide audience because Richmond-based Fairchild Radio Group is one of Canada’s largest ethnic broadcasters, with five stations — three FM and two AM — that broadcast in Mandarin and Cantonese in Vancouver, Calgary and Toronto.
Fairchild Radio is 91.25 per cent owned by Hong Kong-born shopping mall magnate Thomas Fung. The remaining shares are held by realtors Grace and Stephen Kwok through Anson Holdings Ltd. (seven per cent), and by Brian Hui through Oakbridge Investment Ltd. (1.75 per cent).
But it’s not just on radio where the battles are being played out. Earlier last week, following a weekend of protests and counter-protests, Vancouver-based, pro-Beijing organizations placed full-page ads in the Chinese-language newspapers Sing Tao and Ming Pao, denouncing the “radical lawbreakers in Hong Kong” for “stirring up non-stop violent riots.”
Best known of the close to 100 groups are the Chinese Benevolent Association and the Chinatown Business Improvement Association, sponsors of the annual Chinese New Year Parade and the Chinatown Festival, where politicians from all levels of government jostle for attention alongside prominent Chinese-Canadians and representatives from China’s consulate.
“Such acts of violence have already edged on the limits of Hong Kong’s ‘One Country, Two Systems.’” the ad said. “Not only have (such acts of violence) destroyed the social order of Hong Kong and the normal life of the citizens, they also endanger the national security and the peaceful development of China.”
The ad went on to state: “The overseas Chinese and the citizens of Hong Kong have been united as one all along and have their hearts beat in harmony. They passionately love Hong Kong and China. Our common desire is the social stability and economic prosperity of Hong Kong … an inseparable part of China’s territory and … an internal affair of China.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan walk in the 2017 Chinese New Year Parade in Vancouver.
Ming Pao is owned by Malaysian businessman Tiong Hiew King, while Sing Tao’s owner is Hong Kong businessman Charles Tsu-kwok Ho, a long-time member of the national committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.
Aside from the newspaper’s connection to Canada, Ho has a personal one. His cousin, David Ting-kwok Ho, founded the short-lived Harmony Airlines and was a member of the Vancouver Police Board. But in 2012, he pleaded guilty to unlawful confinement of a woman at his Vancouver home and possession of an unregistered and loaded Glock 9-mm handgun, for which he was given a one-year suspended sentence, 45 hours of community service, and a $5,000 fine.
More quietly, and more practically, some other businesses are offering support for the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese government. They oppose demonstrators’ demands for the right to vote for all of the seats in the Hong Kong government, including the chief executive, an inquiry into police brutality, amnesty for those arrested and the full withdrawal of a proposed extradition bill.
The pro-Beijing supporters have even been offered free food at two local restaurants and a bubble tea shop.
On WeChat, Li Zhenning of Me+Crepe described it as “our small contribution.”
“For all of you hardworking patriots, fill your stomach before you go!” All it took was knowing the secret code and saying it at the counter at either the Richmond or downtown Vancouver branch of the small, local chain.
The secret code: “I love China, I love Hong Kong.”
Those same words were printed on the placards held by pro-Beijing counter-protesters, and were the same words that they chanted.
Twitter: @bramham_daphne